Times are changing and fraud is climbing in some areas. Data breaches are up 35% across the industry. Malware has hit Kmart hard. Phishing scams are getting more sophisticated and scams to steal card data are rising. See article below for the whole story. (more…)

Conducting business in professional, transparent and honest manner is not only great business philosophy, which truly creates customer partnerships, it also keeps “you” out of prison. Increased scrutiny of merchant services providers using misleading verbal statements, misleading proposals and worst of all, misleading analysis’ to dupe unsuspecting customers into to becoming buyers, is now forcing law enforcement and prosecutors to ramp up enforcement. As an industry professional I welcome this increased enforcement. Days of using boastful and misleading tactics are coming to an end. Greater scrutiny and prosecution will ensure this. Conducting yourself as a true professional is paramount.

We all too often see unprofessional, disgusting activity taking place where unsuspecting merchants are duped into doing business by “pie in the sky” promises of “lowest rates” and “smoke and mirrors” proposals. These tactics are often unveiled when the credit card processing statements show up full of little surprises. Sometimes it takes 2-3 or 4 months before all the surprises are aired, but they do eventually make their presence. Add this together with the words spoken by the associate plus other unannounced surprises you have the perfect storm and grounds for prosecution due to fraud. As industry professionals we are held to our words and presentations. We must be totally transparent and honest to a fault or face the consequences. Ignorance of the facts or lack of industry knowledge is not an excuse. As a professional you must take your responsibility seriously. Each and every one of us in an industry ambassador. We must learn the business through being highly trained and educated in our industry. We must also be well aware of associated laws before we venture out and face impending disaster. Read article below and see why this is ultimately so much more important today.(more…)

Our credit card processing industry has some great people, true highly knowledgeable and experienced professionals. Unfortunately there are also those that need to be weeded out as well. We as professionals must be vigilant in always putting the customer first. At Capital Bankcard our customers are the reason we are in business. Full disclosure with no “smoke and mirrors” or “catch me if you can” mentality is the only acceptable business practice. We must consistently conduct business at the highest ethical standards at all times under all marketing conditions regardless of unscrupulous practices of competitors.

We must also be just as vigilant in cleaning up and maintaining our industries’ image. It all starts within ourselves. Give yourself the mirror test daily. Look in the mirror and ask yourself, “am I conducting business at the highest ethical standards with my customers best interests first and foremost or am I just trying to line my own pockets at everyone else’s expense? Am I improving our industry image or am I part of the problem? We all know where we stand when staring at ourselves in that mirror.

To the true ethical professionals, I am honored to be your peer! To those who don’t fall in this category, find a new industry before our industry finds you! It’s time for all industry professionals to help clean up our industry starting with ourselves.

This article below is an example of those who should have found a new industry:(more…)

Merchants are smiling about a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding swipe fees on credit cards. This ruling may open the door for merchants to charge surcharge fees on all credit card transactions.(more…)

A card issuer takes the breach of nationwide fast food retailer Wendy’s into its own hands. Southeastern Michigan credit union has banned all debit and credit transactions conducted at Wendy’s locations until further notice. This is the most aggressive stance we have seen to date regarding breaches and protection by a card issuer. Times are changing, so are attitudes towards credit and debit card breaches. (more…)

Your bank is one of the most relied upon service providers. People must have faith in the place they choose to store their finances. Recent incidents by Wells Fargo employees resulting in almost 6,000 employee terminations and hundreds of millions in fines have once again shaken public trust to the very core. Details of the employee fraud are outlined in this article by Maggie McGrath of Forbes. (more…)